When Pradyuman left for school on Friday, he was excited as he had to spend the day with his friend and birthday boy Sarvesh. The 7-year-old mentioned thrice in front of his mother that he will go along with his friend to distribute chocolates in the school premises but, fate had something else in store for Pradyuman.

Pradyuman reached school at 7.50 am but the class 2 student breathed his last inside the premises of Ryan International school around 8 am. His father rushed to the hospital to find his only son lying lifeless. "Like any other day, he went to school bidding me bye. The moment my husband reached home, he received a call from the school that there's an emergency. We rushed to the hospital to learn that our son is no more," said Jyoti Thakur, Pradyuman's mother.

Ashok Kumar, the bus conductor, slit Pradyuman's throat with a knife he had taken to the school washroom to wash. Kumar told police he was masturbating inside the washroom when the boy walked in. The attack spilt open the right side of the boy's face from the ear to the throat. His school shirt and shorts was soaked in blood.

Kumar hails from Ghamroj village in Sohna of Haryana and is a father of two kids. He confessed to committing the murder during the police interrogation. He will be produced in a court today.

Kumar said that he killed the boy after he resisted his attempts to sexually abuse him. Kumar is now charged with murder and attempt to sexual assault. "He was beaten and someone even tore his clothes. This is how they killed my 7-year-old," an inconsolable Jyoti said.

While children nowadays enjoy playing games in mobiles and internet, Pradyuman was more into outdoor activities. "He loved playing with his bat and ball. He loved cycling. Every evening he would go for cycling with his friends and neighbours," his mother and neighbours fondly remember.

The Thakur family, which came from Bihar's Madhubani to make a living in Delhi-NCR, lost their only son and all they want now is, justice. They want the murderer and all those responsible for this negligence punished. "My children were among the best students of the school, both in academics and also in co-curricular activities. They were well behaved and we never received any complaints against them," said Jyoti.